Expectations that prioritize privileged identities keep women and people of color from even running for office

Since Kamala Harris’s defeat to Donald Trump in 2024, Democrats have chased candidates who exude an ever-elusive “authenticity”. For many on the left, the answer was Graham Platner, a military veteran turned oyster farmer with a gravelly voice and deep hostility toward the political establishment.

Even as controversy after controversy emerged – racist, sexist, homophobic online posts; a tattoo widely recognized as a Nazi symbol, which he later covered up; sexually explicit messages sent to other women while he was married; and allegations from former partners of toxic and threatening behavior, which he denied – Platner’s momentum didn’t slow. It was only after a woman accused Platner of rape – which he denies – that his political support collapsed.

Justice department lawyers had appealed to stay a judge’s order to remove Trump’s name from facade

An appeals court in Washington DC rejected an emergency appeal seeking to pause the removal of Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the Kennedy Center on Friday.

Justice department lawyers for Donald Trump and his hand-picked Kennedy Center board filed the emergency appeal earlier on Friday, asking the court to stay a judge’s order that his name be removed from the facade of Washington’s leading performing arts venue.

Chamber advances bill for first time as four Republicans join all but one of Senate’s Democrats in favor

The Senate voted on Tuesday to advance a war powers resolution aimed at forcing Donald Trump to end the war in Iran unless he receives congressional authorization to continue it.

Tuesday’s 50-47 vote marks the first time the chamber has advanced the bill, the eighth attempt at doing so since the conflict began in February.

Donald Trump says ceasefire remains in place despite strikes, with Iranian TV saying situation is ‘back to normal’

The US and Iran exchanged fire late on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire.

Iran accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting two ships at the strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas, as the US insisted it struck in retaliation.

President and other top leaders evacuated from annual dinner after shots fired

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CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said he was within a few feet of the shooter, and called into CNN to describe his observations.

Blitzer said he saw “a very, very serious weapon. He starts shooting, and I happened to have been a few feet away from him. As he was shooting, of course, the first thing that went through my mind: is he trying to shoot me? And I don’t think he was trying to shoot me, but I was very close to him as the gunshots were fired and he was very, very scary. But I’m OK, now.”

Senator’s fourth attempt for resolutions fails, but votes show growing appetite among Democrats to impose limits

Bernie Sanders on Wednesday led a failed effort to block the sale of bombs and bulldozers to Israel, but the votes revealed a growing appetite among Democrats to impose limits on US weapons transfers to a longtime US ally.

It was the fourth time Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, had forced consideration of resolutions cutting off military aid for Israel in the Senate, all of which have been rejected by the chamber’s Republican majority, and many Democrats.

Departures came after lawmakers from both parties threatened to introduce resolutions expelling the two men

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The Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell and Republican congressman Tony Gonzales submitted their resignations to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, abruptly ending their political careers amid bipartisan furor over allegations of sexual misconduct against both.

Swalwell resigned at 2pm ET, while Gonazales’s resignation will take effect at 11.59pm on Tuesday evening, according to the House clerk.

Decision comes after House ethics committee announced it had opened an investigation into congressman

Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, said on Monday he would resign from Congress following multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct that ended his bid for governor.

Swalwell was a facing a growing chorus of bipartisan calls for him to step down or face an expulsion vote, a day after he announced that he would suspend his campaign for governor of California.

President says on Truth Social he will annihilate country if government ignores deadline to reopen strait of Hormuz

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Donald Trump on Tuesday morning threatened to annihilate the entirety of Iranian civilization should the country’s government ignore his 8pm ET deadline to reopen the strait of Hormuz.

The president’s own words, posted publicly and tied to a specific deadline and set of demands, provide unusually direct evidence of intent to violate international law, and were being met with shock and dismay by Democrats and a growing number of prominent conservatives.

Officials say other remains missing in first downing of US fighter plane since start of war

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One US service member has been rescued after a US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter was shot down over Iran, prompting a frantic effort to locate its two-strong crew, in the first such incident since the war began almost five weeks ago.

US officials familiar with the situation said one crew member was still missing late on Friday, after Iranian state media released images of a tail fin and other debris accompanied by an initial claim that an advanced US F-35 had been hit by a new air defence system over central Iran.

Decision to give testimony comes days before House was expected to vote to hold pair in contempt of Congress

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Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed on Monday to testify in a House investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, days before the chamber was expected to vote to hold them in contempt of Congress.

The concession follows a tense back-and-forth between the Clintons and the Republican James Comer, chair of the House oversight committee, who on Monday said that he would insist both Clintons sit for a sworn deposition before the committee in order to fulfill the panel’s subpoenas.

Federal agents set to scale back presence in Minneapolis as president and allies strike more conciliatory tone

Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy militarized immigration agents in US cities may finally be reaching a reckoning as he faces widespread opposition across the US, dissenting lawmakers in his own party, and impending court rulings after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis.

While there was no sign the aggressive tactics used by immigration enforcement are coming to an end, the mayor of Minneapolis said the administration would begin to scale back the number of federal agents in Minneapolis starting on Tuesday, as the president and his team soften their harsh rhetoric regarding Pretti’s killing.